


Anniversary Prank Backfires!!!

by Unknown



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Adopted Children, Baby!Fic, Cheating, Chuck Lives, Engagement, Established Relationship, Five Years Later, M/M, PPDC Moved To Sydney, Pranks, YouTube Video, based on that, but not really cheating, for baby, max is not here, prank cheating, references to Jazmine Becket, the dog that is to say, use of deceased characters names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-22
Updated: 2013-11-22
Packaged: 2018-01-02 09:23:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1055125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unknown/pseuds/Unknown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Chuck and Raleigh are really horrible to each other and come up with the most hurtful and gut-wrenching pranks... and Chuck totally <i>fails</i> at his. No need to worry though; Raleigh is a <i>crafty</i> bastard and saves the mood of the day with a few pranks and truths of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anniversary Prank Backfires!!!

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on and named after [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7AXBOT8KzU) on YouTube. This is the video that Chuck references, though it ends differently in the story because I wanted Chuck to be the one to pull (and fail at) the prank the video pulled (or tries to). 
> 
> GO WATCH IT IT IS HYSTERICAL I CRIED LAUGHING AND PEED A LITTLE.
> 
> So yeah, not my original idea, so I like HAD TO.

Chuck grins into his camera as he walks into the room he and Raleigh share at the PPDC Head Quarters in Sydney. Five years ago, they’d closed the Breach and his father had packed them all up to Australia where they continued research on the Drift and Kaiju. Chuck and Raleigh, as well as most of their friends, had stuck around doing the only thing they know how.

This isn’t a story about that.

This is a story about how Chuck’s anniversary prank came back to bite him in the ass.

He tells his dad about it first, just so that when he finally tells Raleigh it was all a joke, he can have backup so that Raleigh doesn’t think he’s just backing out of telling the truth.

“You bloody drongo, that can seriously backfire,” Herc tells his son, but the 26 year old shrugs.

“Dad,” he says, “I would never actually even _consider_ cheating on Raleigh, never mind actually _do_ it.” He grins. “Besides, I’ll have you as backup and I’m telling Mako and a few others. He’ll believe the rest of you once he knows it’s a joke.”

Herc rolls his eyes. If this ends badly, it’s Chuck’s own fault.

Mako has a similar stance. “Raleigh trusts you. He could seriously hurt emotionally, Chuck. This could damage your relationship with him.” She frowns and folds her arms across her chest.

“It’s not real, Mako,” Chuck says with a chuckle. “It’s a _prank_. I’ve been dying to get back at him from like, two years ago, when he said he dropped Angie.” Angela Jazmine Hansen-Becket, the baby they’d adopted two years ago together. It had been literally three days after they got to take her home and Chuck had been called out to a meeting with some Aussie officials in Herc’s stead as his father had been tied up in a World Council meeting. He’d come home to Raleigh sitting on their bed, looking anguished and holding a baby blanket in his hands.

 _“I – Chuck I dropped Angie,” Raleigh had said and Chuck had completely blanked for a second before asking where the baby was. “Mako and Tendo… took her to the hospital down town. I – I couldn’t go, I had to be here to tell you…” He had stopped and looked away. “Chuck I’m so-” And at that point, the baby had giggled and Raleigh had sighed, turning to the closet where Mako finally peeked out with the bundle in her arms. “- so damn_ disappointed _that Ms. Mori over there can’t keep a baby entertained for like, ten seconds.”_

_Chuck hadn’t spoken to him for a week before he finally got over it._

“It is your choice,” Mako finally says, because she had been a part of the Angie prank and yeah, Chuck can tell she still feels guilty about it.

When he tells Tendo, the older man just sighs. “Is this to get back at him for the Angie thing?” he guesses correctly. Chuck gives a curt nod. “Okie dokie, though I have to ask, have you cheated on him?” Tendo almost gets his nose broken for that. “I never thought you would, I was just curious as to why you chose that particular prank, geez.”

“Cos it’s our anniversary and that’s just as heartstopping as dropping our baby,” Chuck says with a shrug. “I saw it on some YoutTuble video and the guy got his girl good before all of their friends and family came in to tell her it was just a joke and he showed her the video before it. Honestly, it all turned out fine. They have faith in each other and so do we.”

“That’s… actually really good reasoning, okay fine. I’ll make sure he knows later on that you’ve been true to him and all that jazz. Now get outta here, I have work to do, boyo.”

Hermann thinks it’s a terrible idea in the first place but promises not to tell and Newt cackles and asks for a video of it for later. Chuck laughs along and agrees.

So. He sets up the camera on his phone and narrates out loud what’s going on.

“Today is my five year anniversary with my lovely boyfriend, Raleigh Becket. We’ve got a little girl together, Angela and a pretty great family. And today, I am going to punk his ass by telling him I’ve cheated on him. Rals, this is payback for the Angie thing when we first brought her home. Don’t take it to heart, love.” He finishes setting up the camera, hiding it in a way that will make it invisible to someone who’s not looking for it but still able to catch good video.

Then he pops out and waits for Raleigh to get back from the Kwoon where he’s playing with their daughter.

* * *

A half hour later, Raleigh is lounging on their bed with Angela in his lap, flipping through a book. Chuck walks in, Mako behind him, looking a bit nervous.

“Just take the baby when I ask you to, yeah?” Chuck says. “It’ll add to the believability.” Mako nods once and comes in behind him.

“Hey you two,” Raleigh says with a happy grin and Chuck has to tamper down his giggles because this is going to be great. “Hey lover,” Raleigh says, winking to him.

“Da!” Angela squeals and Chuck gives her a wave before putting on his solemn face. Mako gulps a bit nervously.

“You two okay?” Raleigh asks, sitting up as a look of consternation flits across his face.

“Mako can you take Angela out of the room please?” Chuck says, making sure to make his voice waver just a bit so that Raleigh can see something’s wrong.

“Chuck what’s going on?” Raleigh asks, sitting up and handing the baby to Mako, who walks right out at a brisk pace. “Chuck?”

“Ray, we have to talk alright?” Chuck says, keeping the serious face. He sits on the bed next to Raleigh and reaches out to touch him, just pulling back a bit for emphasis. It makes Raleigh’s face go into full worried mode.

“Chuck?”

“I have to tell you something okay? I can’t keep it a secret, not anymore. It’s… Ray, it’s the worst thing you’ve ever heard and I’m sorry,” Chuck says, flexing his jaw. He pauses. He took drama classes in year 8 before he was even thinking of the Academy. He thinks they paid off. “When I was in Hong Kong a few weeks ago with Herc… Raleigh, I _cheated_ on you.” He looks, trying to make his eyes go wide and Raleigh’s just burst, they’re wide and glassy and just stunned. Chuck tries not to feel too bad as Raleigh flinches away from him, pulling in on himself.

“What?” he says, his voice hushed and hurt.

“I… we went out to drink with some company that’s funding us and one of the business women, she just…” He closes his eyes and thinks _, ah yes, add insult to injury by making it a girl_. He opens his eyes once he thinks he won’t laugh anymore and says, “I will never, _ever_ do it again, I swear, Raleigh I swear. It was an accident, it meant nothing.” He reaches out but Raleigh pushes away and hides his face and… Oh, here come the water-works.

 _Well, good enough_ , Chuck thinks _, I cried when I thought our kid had cracked her head open at 2 months old._

“Chuck, we have a fucking family,” Raleigh says into his hands, muffled. He turns away. “How could you… fucking hell, Chuck. Jesus Chuck.”

“I’m sorry,” Chuck continues, trying not to laugh. Oh god, he needs to keep it together. “Raleigh, please forgive me. I haven’t been able to eat or sleep for days. You have to. Please I-”

“Oh god, _Chuck I cheated on you too_.”

“I’m sor… _what_?” Chuck says, the word snapping out of him. His heart skips a beat and his chest gets tight. “What did you say?”

“I said _I cheated on you_ ,” he hears and it looks like Raleigh is crying even more.

It’s like the Angela thing all over again and Chuck can’t breathe. He stands up and kicks the foot board of their bed. “Are you fucking serious? You can’t be fucking serious,” but Raleigh is nodding and shifting away as he hides his face. “No, _no_ , not _you_ ,” he says and holy shit, he can’t believe it, he refuses to believe it for even a second but… Raleigh had no idea about this, so it must be like one of those times when both parties cheated and when once one side admits to it the other feels free too as well, except _Chuck hasn’t actually cheated which means…_

“Holy _fuck_ , Raleigh, _what the fuck_? With fucking _who_ , you bastard?” he snarls and it feels like his heart is ripping into pieces and he hopes Mako got their kid far away because this is about to get ugly. Chuck stalks to the other side of the bed where Raleigh had turned to and grips him by the shoulder making Raleigh face him. And Raleigh, Raleigh is red faced with tears down his cheeks shaking…

_…in laughter._

“Oh you fucking fuck what the fucking hell?” Chuck yells because this isn’t funny Raleigh fucking cheated on him.

“I didn’t cheat on you, _you idiot_ ,” Raleigh says between chuckles, and he springs up on the bed and points to Chuck, crowing, “I saw you set up your stupid camera! You narrated the whole plan out loud, smart ass!”

Chuck’s eyes widen and a sense of relief fills his chest before irritation sets in because _holy shit Raleigh just gave him a heart attack_ and _ruined his prank_ , so he tackles Raleigh to the bed and straddles him as Raleigh laughs and laughs and laughs, looking far too pleased with himself.

“You slimly little-”

“Uh-uh-uh,” Raleigh says, cutting him off. “You’re the one who thought it would be a good idea to do something like that _on our anniversary_ , you complete asshole.” He punches Chuck lightly on the chest. “So not cool.”

“You told me you dropped our baby on her head,” Chuck says, grinning wickedly.

“Like, two years ago!”

“Revenge has no expiration date, Raahleigh,” Chuck says then leans down to nip at Raleigh’s ear. “You suck.”

“Yeah, so do our friends. Cos _apparently_ , Hermann needed Mako and I to do a quick Drift sequence earlier as well and Mako _just happened_ to let that memory from earlier today slip out,” Raleigh says wiggling his eyebrows.

“So she _knew_ when she came in with me?” Chuck asks. He plops backwards, groaning. “That _bitch_ , she’s too smart for her own good.” He gives Raleigh the stink eye as the other man gets up and goes rummaging in a drawer for something, but Chuck can’t see so he ignores it. “Who else squealed on me?”

“Well, after that I talked to your dad, Newt and Tendo.” The drawer shuts and he hears rustling, but Raleigh never comes back around. “You are one sneaky little fuck, Mr. Hansen-Becket.”

Chuck snorts. He sits up, his back to Raleigh and stretches a bit. “Well apparently you’re way sneakier, Ray.” He turns around on the bed, setting his feet down on the floor to stand up. “And by the way, lover, that’s _not_ my last…”

Chuck lets himself trail off as he looks up at Raleigh. Except, Raleigh isn’t standing anymore, he’s on one knee in front of Chuck, a tiny, leather box in his hand with a simple platinum ring in it, inlaid with three little dark stones. Raleigh’s face looks expectant as he kneels there, a tiny smile on his lips.

“…name,” Chuck finishes breathlessly. He can’t swallow actually and he thinks he’s getting tunnel vision, which never happened to him, not even when he first piloted Striker. “Um.”

“You know, if I hadn’t found out about your idiotic prank beforehand, there is a _small_ chance I wouldn’t have done this even though I’ve been planning _months_ in advance.” Raleigh pauses. “Nah, okay that’s such a lie, I trust you too much and would believe it was a joke after you told me, and I’d _still_ do this only probably less dramatic and more… desperate and quick.” He pauses. “This way’s nicer, am I right?”

“Um,” Chuck repeats looking at the ring then at Raleigh then back again and feeling like he’s been hit in the chest by a horse, whatever that feels like. Well, actually, feels more like by a boomer, and hell, does he know what _that_ feels like.

“Oh, right, I’m supposed to ask, not be presumptuous, okay, gotcha.” And then Raleigh’s face turns serious, turns real and the nervousness actually shows when he tentatively swallows. “Right, okay. We’ve been doing this thing for about five years, hell, we even thought it’d be a good idea to get a mini-human and raise it together. So I mean, I figure that if we can pull baby-dropping or cheating pranks on each other and have enough trust in each other afterward to move on from the joke and know it’s a joke, then I think that we can make it through marriage just fine. So. What do you say, Chuck Hansen? Wanna make an honest man outta me?” Raleigh’s biting his lips now, one hand a bit shaky from the nerves.

Chuck snaps out of it.

“You’re never gonna be an honest man if the way you hijack all my pranks is anything to go by,” Chuck says dryly. “I could say no right now to give you a heart attack but I think we’ve pulled enough pranks on each other for today.” Chuck pauses. “And also, I really, really want to say yes and get that bloody ring on my finger and marry your stupid ass, so yes, I’ll make an ‘honest man’ out of you, whatever that means, just so long as you get over here and kiss me before I fall over in shock.”

It’s enough for Raleigh because he snaps the box closed, heaves himself up onto his feet and practically runs over to Chuck, giving him a bruising kiss as laughter bubbles out from between his lips and into Chuck’s mouth. He barely registers the ring being slipped onto his finger but he hears Mako come in laughing with Angela squealing in joy – not that she knows why, but her parents are happy, so she is too.

“Of course Mako knew,” Chuck says later on. “Mako knows _everything_.”

“She was in my head, kid,” Raleigh responds as Newt hooks up the video from his phone and everyone watches. Chuck winces a bit. When it gets to the revelation, Herc laughs himself silly, wiping at his eyes and claiming, “I think I just pissed myself!” The engagement part is cute as well, and again, Herc intones, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so speechless. Maybe when you first saw Striker, but besides that…”

“Oh, I beat out the jaeger?” Raleigh says as he cradles Angela in his arms, the baby falling asleep. “Sweet.”

“Do shut up,” Chuck groans, but in a few months time, Hermann will play the video at their wedding reception and tell everyone _see? I said it was a bad idea to do that prank, Chuck. Now look what’s happened, you’ve gone and married the fool. Ball and chain sir. Ball. And. Freaking. Chain._

And they’ll all get a laugh out of that. Except Vanessa, of course, but she’ll mostly just talk to Newt the whole night to piss Hermann off.

It’s nothing they can’t handle.


End file.
